This Week In Golf: Jonny Leighfield’s weekly look at the biggest stories in professional golf, tournament previews and other key details you need to know.
From players trying to maintain their playing rights at the highest level to season champions being crowned, the coming days will provide conclusions to many of these narratives.
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This week, the penultimate PGA Tour event of the year takes place in Bermuda as the race to snatch one of the remaining cards for next term continues while the LPGA Tour is also preparing for its second-to-last tournament – a competition which will ultimately decide who makes the play-offs as well.
The DP World Tour is midway through arguably the biggest week of the year in Dubai and the Asian Tour is enjoying a regular event prior to the incredibly important PIF Saudi International in a few days time. Elsewhere, the Ladies European Tour is without an event until the end of the month.
With that in mind, below are a handful of other interesting storylines from the world of golf this week.
NEW PGA TOUR EVENT UNVEILED
PGA Tour CEO, Brian Rolapp
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The PGA Tour announced earlier this week that there would be a new addition to the FedEx Cup Fall schedule in September 2026.
Staged at The Cliffs at Walnut Cove, which looks as idyllic as it sounds, the Biltmore Championship will take place September 17-20, 2026 and gives Asheville in North Carolina its first tour event in more than 80 years.
The Biltmore Championship has signed a four-year agreement with the PGA Tour and follows on from news of another fresh event which is set to make its debut next term – the Good Good Championship.
KAI TRUMP TO MAKE LPGA TOUR DEBUT
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It was announced last month that Kai Trump – granddaughter of US President Donald Trump – had received an invite into The Annika driven by Gainbridge at Pelican. Well, that tournament is this week and 18-year-old Trump is preparing to make her debut on the LPGA Tour.
Ranked 461st in the AJGA standings, Trump has more than six million social-media followers and also founded her own apparel and lifestyle brand which aims to empower young women in sports.
She won’t be the only big name at Pelican Golf Club this week, though, as WNBA superstar Caitlin Clark is once again competing in the Pro-Am on Wednesday.
But, once the fun of the Pro-Am is over, all eyes will be fixed on Trump to see how the University of Miami commit fares in the big leagues.
PGA TOUR CARDS DECIDED
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This week is massive in terms of the DP World Tour season. Not only will the Race To Dubai be decided – likely in Rory McIlroy‘s favor – but the 10 PGA Tour cards are handed out to the leading players in the Race To Dubai rankings.
Marco Penge has the chance to deny McIlroy a seventh Race To Dubai title via a couple of different routes, but even if the Englishman comes up a little short, he will simply be aiming to ensure he takes the first PGA Tour card available.
As it stands, Penge is guaranteed starts in the US next year, but he will want the trappings that come with securing the No.1 seed, so to speak.
Elsewhere, Jordan Smith currently possesses the final PGA Tour card and needs a good result to avoid suffering the heartbreak he endured 12 months ago.
This time last year, Smith missed out to Tom McKibbin by one spot, only for the Northern Irishman to leave for LIV Golf in the first few days of 2025 which ensured his English rival could not be subbed in.
DP WORLD TOUR Q-SCHOOL ENDS
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At the other end of the DP World Tour, so to speak, there are 20 cards up for grabs in the Final Stage of DP World Tour Qualifying School. The six-day marathon began on Friday and saw several notable names miss the cut after four days.
With just one round to go at Spain’s Infinitum Golf, former tour winners and promising talents are sprinting to the line to ensure they have status on the main European circuit in 2026.
ELSEWHEREScottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy have unveiled the rest of their four-man teams for December’s Golf Channel GamesThe DP World Tour announced the creation of the ‘Rory McIlroy Award’ which recognizes the leading DP World Tour member with the best performance in the four Major championships each year (McIlroy is exempt)Mimi Rhodes was announced as the LET’s Rookie of the Year following her three-win campaign just months after turning proDP World has extended its long-standing agreement with the European Tour until 2035. DP World will continue its role as the tour’s headline sponsor and logistics partner as well as the circuit’s season-finale sponsorMin Woo Lee confirmed via Instagram (as well as in an interview with the Associated Press) that he would not be leaving for LIV Golf and was sticking with the PGA Tour, despite rumors suggesting the opposite